1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating vision loss, preventing vision degeneration, and promoting vision regeneration (“neopsis”) using low molecular weight, small molecule derivatives.
2. Description of Related Art
The visual system is composed of the eyes, ocular adnexa and the visual pathways. Dysfunction of the visual system may lead to permanent or temporary visual impairment, i.e. a deviation from normal in one or more functions of the eye. Visual impairment manifests itself in various ways and includes a broad range of visual dysfunctions and disturbances. Without limitation, these dysfunctions and disturbances include partial or total loss of vision, the need for correction of visual acuity for objects near and far, loss of visual field, impaired ocular motility without diplopia (double vision), impaired or skewed color perception, limited adaptation to light and dark, diminished accommodation, metamorphopsic distortion, impaired binocular vision, paresis of accommodation, iridoplegia, entropion, ectropion, epiphora, lagophthalmos, and scarring. See Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) for Ophthalmology, 16th Edition, 6:47 (1988). The visual system may be adversely affected by various ophthalmologic disorders, diseases, injuries, and complications, including, without limitation, genetic disorders; [non-genetic disorders;] disorders associated with aging or degenerative diseases; disorders correlating to physical injury to the eye, head, or other parts of the body resulting from external forces; disorders resulting from environmental factors; disorders resulting from a broad range of diseases; and combinations of any of the above.
The visual system is a complex system composed of numerous components. Visual impairment can involve the entire visual system, any one component, or any combination of components, depending upon the precise nature of the circumstances. The eye is composed of a lens, which is suspended in the zonules of Zinn and is focused by the ciliary body. The ciliary body also secretes aqueous humor, which fills the posterior chamber, passes through the pupil into the anterior chamber, then drains primarily via the canal of Schlemm. The iris regulates the quantity of light entering the eye by adjusting the size of its central opening, the pupil. A visual image is focused onto the retina, the fovea centralis being the retinal area of sharpest visual acuity. The conjunctiva is the mucus membrane which lines the eyelids and the eyeball, and ends abruptly at the limbus conjunctivae, the edge of the conjunctiva overlapping the cornea. The cornea is the clear, transparent anterior portion of the fibrous coat of the eye; it is important in light refraction and is covered with an epithelium that differs in many respects from the conjunctival epithelium.
The retina is the innermost, light sensitive portion of the eye, containing two types of photoreceptors, cones, which are responsible for color vision in brighter light, and rods, which are essential for vision in dim light but do not perceive colors. After light passes through the cornea, lens system, and the vitreous humor, it enters the retina from the inside; that is, it passes through the ganglion cells and nerve fibers, the inner and outer plexiform layers, the inner and outer nuclear layers, and the internal and external limiting membranes before it finally reaches the layer of photoreceptors located near the outside of the retina, just inside the outermost pigment epithelium layer. The cells of the pigment epithelium layer act as an anatomical barrier to liquids and substances located outside of the eye, forming the “blood-retina” barrier, and provide nourishment, oxygen, a source of functionally useful substances like vitamin A, and phagocytosis of decomposition products to photoreceptor cells. There is no anatomical connection between the pigment epithelium and the photoreceptor layer, permitting separation of the layers in some pathological situations.
When rods or cones are excited by light, signals are transmitted through successive neurons in the retina itself, into the optic nerve fibers, and ultimately to the cerebral cortex. Both rods and cones contain molecules that decompose on exposure to light and, in the process, excite the nerve fibers leading from the eye. The molecule in rods is rhodopsin. The three light-sensitive molecules in cones, collectively called iodopsin, have compositions only slightly different from that of rhodopsin and are maximally excited by red, blue, or green light, respectively.
Neither rods nor cones generate action potentials. Rather, the light-induced membrane hyperpolarization generated in the outer, photosensitive segment of a rod or cone cell is transmitted from the outer segment through the inner segment to the synaptic body by direct conduction of the electrical voltage itself, a process called electrotonic conduction. At the synaptic body, the membrane potential controls the release of an unknown transmitter molecule. In low light, rod and cone cell membranes are depolarized and the rate of transmitter release is greatest. Light-induced hyperpolarization causes a marked decrease in the release of transmitter molecules.
The transmitters released by rod and cone cells induce signals in the bipolar neurons and horizontal cells. The signals in both these cells are also transmitted by electrotonic conduction and not by action potential.
The rod bipolar neurons connect with as many as 50 rod cells, while the dwarf and diffuse bipolar cells connect with one or several cone cells. A depolarizing bipolar cell is stimulated when its connecting rods or cones are exposed to light. The release of transmitter molecules inhibits the depolarizing bipolar cell. Therefore, in the dark, when the rods and cones are secreting large quantities of transmitter molecules, the depolarizing bipolar cells are inhibited. In the light, the decrease in release of transmitter molecules from the rods and cones reduces the inhibition of the bipolar cell, allowing it to become excited. In this manner, both positive and negative signals can be transmitted through different bipolar cells from the rods and cones to the amacrine and ganglion cells.
As their name suggests, horizontal cells project horizontally in the retina, where they may synapse with rods, cones, other horizontal cells, or a combination of cells types. The function of horizontal cells is unclear, although some mechanism in the convergence of photoreceptor signaling has been postulated.
All types of bipolar cells connect with ganglion cells, which are of two primary types. A-type ganglion cells predominately connect with rod bipolar cells, while B-type ganglion cells predominately connect with dwarf and diffuse bipolar cells. It appears that A-type ganglion cells are sensitive to contrast, light intensity, and perception of movement, while B-type ganglion cells appear more concerned with color vision and visual acuity.
Like horizontal cells, the Amacrine cells horizontally synapse with several to many other cells, in this case bipolar cells, ganglion cells, and other Amacrine cells. The function of Amacrine cells is also unclear.
The axons of ganglion cells carry signals into the nerve fiber layer of the eye, where the axons converge into fibers which further converge at the optic disc, where they exit the eye as the optic nerve. The ganglion cells transmit their signals through the optic nerve fibers to the brain in the form of action potentials. These cells, even when unstimulated, transmit continuous nerve impulses at an average, baseline rate of about 5 per second. The visual signal is superimposed onto this baseline level of ganglion cell stimulation. It can be either an excitatory signal, with the number of impulses increasing above the baseline rate, or an inhibitory signal, with the number of nerve impulses decreasing below the baseline rate.
As part of the central nervous system, the eye is in some ways an extension of the brain; as such, it has a limited capacity for regeneration. This limited regeneration capacity further complicates the challenging task of improving vision, resolving dysfunction of the visual system, and/or treating or preventing ophthalmologic disorders. Many disorders of the eye, such as retinal photic injury, retinal ischemia-induced eye injury, age-related macular degeneration, free radical-induced eye diseases, as well as numerous other disorders, are considered to be entirely untreatable. Other ophthalmologic disorders, e.g., disorders causing permanent visual impairment, are corrected only by the use of ophthalmic devices and/or surgery, with varying degrees of success.
The immunosuppressant drugs FK506, rapamycin, and cyclosporin are well known as potent T-cell specific immunosuppressants, and are effective against autoimmunity, transplant or graft rejection, inflammation, allergic responses, other autoimmune or immune-mediated diseases, and infectious diseases. It has been disclosed that application of Cyclosporin, FK-506, Rapamycin, Buspirone, Spiperone, and/or their derivatives are effective in treating some ophthalmologic disorders of these types. Several ophthalmologic disorders or vision problems are known to be associated with autoimmune and immunologically-mediated activities; hence, immunomodulatory compounds are expected to demonstrate efficacy for treating those types of ophthalmologic disorders or vision problems.
The effects of FK506, Rapamycin, and related agents in the treatment of ophthalmologic diseases are disclosed in several U.S. patents (Goulet et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,248; Mochizuki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,686; Luly et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,111; Russo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,937; Kulkarni, U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,589; Asakura et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,865; Goulet et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,389; Armistead et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,773; Goulet et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,042; and Fehr, U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,844). These patents claim FK506 or Rapamycin related compounds and disclose the known use of FK506 or Rapamycin related compounds in the treatment of ophthalmologic disorders in association with the known immunosuppressive effects of FK506 and Rapamycin. The compounds disclosed in these patents are relatively large. Further, the cited patents relate to immunomodulatory compounds limited to treating autoimmunity or related diseases, or immunologically-mediated diseases, for which the efficacy of FK506 and Rapamycin is well known.
Other U.S. patents disclose the use of cyclosporin, Spiperone, Buspirone, their derivatives, and other immunosuppressive compounds for use in the treatment of ophthalmologic diseases (Sharpe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,088; Sharpe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,645; Sullivan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,765; Sullivan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,921; Sharpe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,041; Eberle, U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,826; Sharpe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,902; Chiou et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,198,454 and 5,194,434; and Kaswan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,342). These patents also relate to compounds useful for treating autoimmune diseases and cite the known use of cyclosporin, Spiperone, Buspirone, their derivatives, and other immunosuppressive compounds in treating ocular inflammation and other immunologically-mediated ophthalmologic diseases.
The immunosuppressive compounds disclosed in the prior art suppress the immune system, by definition, and also exhibit other toxic side effects. Accordingly, there is a need for non-immunosuppressant, small molecule compounds, and compositions and methods for use of such compounds, that are useful in improving vision; preventing, treating, and/or repairing visual impairment or dysfunction of the visual system; and preventing, treating, and/or resolving ophthalmologic disorders.
There are also a number of patents on non-immunosuppressive compounds disclosing methods of use for permitting or promoting wound healing (whether from injury or surgery); controlling intraocular pressure (often resulting from glaucoma); controlling neurodegenerative eye disorders, including damage or injury to retinal neurons, damage or injury to retinal ganglion cells, and macular degeneration; stimulating neurite outgrowth; preventing or reducing oxidative damage caused by free radicals; and treating impaired oxygen and nutrient supply, as well as impaired waste product removal, resulting from low blood flow. These non-immunosuppressive substances fall into one of two general categories: naturally occurring molecules, such as proteins, glycoproteins, peptides, hormones, and growth factors; and synthetic molecules.
Within the group of naturally occurring non-immunosuppressive molecules, several hormones, growth factors, and signaling molecules have been patented for use as supplements to naturally occurring quantities of such molecules, as well as for targeting of specific cells where the particular molecule does not naturally occur in a mature individual. These patents generally claim methods of use for reducing or preventing the symptoms of ocular disease, or arresting or reversing vision loss.
Specifically, Louis et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,736,516 and 5,641,749, disclose the use of a glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) to stop or reverse the degeneration of retinal neurons (i.e. photoreceptors) and retinal ganglion cells caused by glaucoma, or other degenerative or traumatic retinal diseases or injuries. O'Brien, et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,714,459 and 5,700,909, disclose the use of a glycoprotein, Saposin, and its derivatives for stimulating neurite outgrowth and increasing myelination. To stop or reverse degeneration of retinal neurons, LaVail et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,968, discloses the use of a variety of neurotrophic proteins, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor, ciliary neurotrophic factor, neurotrophin-3 or neurotrophin-4, acidic or basic fibroblast growth factors, interleukin, tumor necrosis factor-α, insulin-like growth factor-2 and other growth factors. Wong et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,984, discloses the use of interferons, especially interferon α-2a, for treating the symptoms of macular degeneration by reducing hemorrhage and limiting neovascularization. Finally, Wallace et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,937, discloses the use of a lung-derived neurotrophic factor (NTF) to maintain the functionality of ciliary ganglion and parasympathetic neuron cells.
A key characteristic of factors derived from specific cell lines is their localization to specific cell lines or tissues; systemic treatment with these molecules would run a substantial risk of unintended, and potentially dangerous, effects in cell lines where the genes encoding these molecules are inactive. Similarly, hormones and growth factors often activate a large number of genes in many cell lines; again, non-localized application of these molecules would run a substantial risk of provoking an inappropriate, and potentially dangerous, response.
Within the category of synthetic molecules, most of the patented compounds are immunosuppressive and disclose uses in treating inflammatory, autoimmune, and allergic responses, as discussed above. A few others are non-immunosuppressive and claim the ability to treat cellular degeneration, and in some cases promote cellular regeneration, most often in the context of their antioxidant properties.
Specifically, Tso et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,533, discloses the use of astaxanthin, a carotenoid antioxidant, for preventing or reducing photoreceptor damage resulting from the presence of free radicals. Similarly, Babcock et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,319, discloses the use of antioxidant aminosteroids for treating eye disease and injury, by increasing resistance to oxidative damage. Freeman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,752, discloses the use of the antiviral phosphonylmethoxyalkylcytosines to reduce abnormally increased intraocular pressure.
Hamilton and Steiner disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,547 novel pyrrolidine carboxylate compounds which bind to the immunophilin FKBP12 and stimulate nerve growth, but which lack immunosuppressive effects. Unexpectedly, it has been discovered that these non-immunosuppressant compounds promote improvements in vision and resolve ophthalmologic disorders. Yet their novel small molecule structure and non-immunosuppressive properties differentiate them from FK506 and related immunosuppressive compounds found in the prior art.
Further, these compounds may be differentiated from the non-immunosuppressive compounds used to treat vision disorders by their, novel small molecule structure and their lack of general, systemic effects. Naturally occurring hormones, growth factors, cytokines, and signaling molecules are generally multifunctional and activate many genes in diverse cell lines. The present compounds do not, thus avoiding the unexpected, and potentially dangerous, side effects of systemic use. Similarly, the present compounds also avoid the potential unexpected side effects of introducing cell line-specific molecules into other cell lines were they do not naturally occur.